At Night All Blood Is Black

A Novel

Hardcover, 145 pages

English language

Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

ISBN:
978-0-374-26697-4
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4 stars (1 review)

Alfa Ndiaye is a Senegalese man who, never before having left his village, finds himself fighting as a so-called “Chocolat” soldier with the French army during World War I. When his friend Mademba Diop, in the same regiment, is seriously injured in battle, Diop begs Alfa to kill him and spare him the pain of a long and agonizing death in No Man’s Land.

Unable to commit this mercy killing, madness creeps into Alfa’s mind as he comes to see this refusal as a cruel moment of cowardice. Anxious to avenge the death of his friend and find forgiveness for himself, he begins a macabre ritual: every night he sneaks across enemy lines to find and murder a blue-eyed German soldier, and every night he returns to base, unharmed, with the German’s severed hand. At first his comrades look at Alfa’s deeds with admiration, but soon rumors begin to circulate …

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Review of 'At Night All Blood Is Black' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Trench warfare on the Western Front of World War I has gotta be like, at least in the top 5 worst experiences in all of human history. But I think this is the first fictional account I've read that really nailed just how fucking bleak it could be by looking at it directly rather than shunting it to the background or a flashback.

Strangely enough, this book strongly reminded me of [b:Fever Dream|30763882|Fever Dream|Samanta Schweblin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1471279721l/30763882.SX50.jpg|42701168], in that it's a brief look at a character's descent into madness. A Senegalese soldier who's drafted up by France to fight the Germans watches his best friend die and Does Not Handle It Well™. His white French commanding officers just want the Africans to act savage and scare the opposing Germans, and our protagonist is all too willing to play the part. Problem is, his own side starts becoming afraid of him …

Subjects

  • Fiction
  • Horror
  • Supernatural
  • World War I
  • France
  • Senegal
  • Ghost story
  • War
  • Military
  • Novella